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51 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.12 AVERAGE
51 reviews for:
A Once Crowded Sky
Tom Fowler, Tom King, Ruth Lee-Mui, David Ter-Avanesyan, Steve Bryant
3.12 AVERAGE
This book was okay. I think I might be getting burned out on prose super-hero universes that start a whole new setting for themselves and then play out some kind of similar-to-the-comics saga. This one is a little more literary than most of them, sometimes a little too much so. There are a dozen or so pages of black and white comic art that look nice, and the central plot works pretty well, but comics readers probably will recognize it. A couple of the characters are neat -- most of them are obviously based on some kind of DC or Marvel hero but the twists in them are often original (oh, and Devil Girl wasn't really based on any one else I recognized).
Good book if you like supers stories and don't think you've already read too many.
Good book if you like supers stories and don't think you've already read too many.
One of the best sci-fi novels I've read. Really beautifully written and well plotted. Turns out that King can write a novel just as well as he can write comics.
Superheroes seem to be the new thing these days, not that they've ever not been the thing, it's just that they seem to be more of a thing now. Not only are they in the movies but now they're even combined with zombies.
Superheroes with no powers, well all except one of them, reflect on the meaning of being a hero. No this isn't The Watchmen silly, it's not even a graphic novel.
But seriously, it's hard not to compare to The Watchmen when you start reading. And after a while you realize it's actually quite a bit different.
A Once Crowded Sky is a novel that starts with and is interspersed with comic pages in each "part," of which there are nine. It's really a very clever novel, from the slow reveal of the mysteries of the plot to the set up of novel/comic to the commentary it's making.
The novel starts with all the superheroes gathered around while their powers are voluntarily stripped from them so that The Man With the Metal Face, Ultimate, can use them to destroy the "blue" that is threatening to destroy everything. Each superhero gives up their power for the sake of the entire world, never to be able to use those powers again and Ultimate is completely incinerated in the process.
We slowly come to find out that Ultimate's sidekick, PenUltimate, actually never showed to the gathering to save the world and thus has kept his powers and simultaneously the ire of all his former friends who think he is a coward.
So, instead of being regular people who never had powers to begin with, these superheroes are going through some really hard times coming down down from the high and having to be normal people again, if they ever were. As you can imagine, not everyone deals with it well and some, one in particular, actually need saving over and over again.
In this superhero world, the superheroes we know about also exist in the form of comics, so the story ends up working as a post-modern/meta look at how we view superheroes and then how they view themselves. Some can no longer deal with the fact that they're useless, some continue to look for fights, and others have given up completely.
The commentary it makes really only works in novel form as well. It's looking at what comics do and how they effect people and what superheroes are to people. At first I wondered why the entire story wasn't in comic form, but as it progresses, it starts to make sense especially with one of the main reveals that's hard to hold back right now, but terribly clever as I mentioned earlier.
One thing I have to mention that bugged me was in the writing itself. There were a lot of odd contractions such as, "There're shots in the air," throughout the novel. The worst part is, I've been known to write like this, but suffice it to say, I will stop because it gets annoying and it's not smooth reading.
In the end, it's not The Watchmen at all, but a clever story that makes you think. The themes in A Once Crowded Sky are a bit lighter, but no less interesting, especially to a comic fan. I would love to read a comic with all these superheroes in it and maybe that will happen one day because I think King did a great job thinking these ones up from powers to personality they're excellently crafted.
4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)
Superheroes with no powers, well all except one of them, reflect on the meaning of being a hero. No this isn't The Watchmen silly, it's not even a graphic novel.
But seriously, it's hard not to compare to The Watchmen when you start reading. And after a while you realize it's actually quite a bit different.
A Once Crowded Sky is a novel that starts with and is interspersed with comic pages in each "part," of which there are nine. It's really a very clever novel, from the slow reveal of the mysteries of the plot to the set up of novel/comic to the commentary it's making.
The novel starts with all the superheroes gathered around while their powers are voluntarily stripped from them so that The Man With the Metal Face, Ultimate, can use them to destroy the "blue" that is threatening to destroy everything. Each superhero gives up their power for the sake of the entire world, never to be able to use those powers again and Ultimate is completely incinerated in the process.
We slowly come to find out that Ultimate's sidekick, PenUltimate, actually never showed to the gathering to save the world and thus has kept his powers and simultaneously the ire of all his former friends who think he is a coward.
So, instead of being regular people who never had powers to begin with, these superheroes are going through some really hard times coming down down from the high and having to be normal people again, if they ever were. As you can imagine, not everyone deals with it well and some, one in particular, actually need saving over and over again.
In this superhero world, the superheroes we know about also exist in the form of comics, so the story ends up working as a post-modern/meta look at how we view superheroes and then how they view themselves. Some can no longer deal with the fact that they're useless, some continue to look for fights, and others have given up completely.
The commentary it makes really only works in novel form as well. It's looking at what comics do and how they effect people and what superheroes are to people. At first I wondered why the entire story wasn't in comic form, but as it progresses, it starts to make sense especially with one of the main reveals that's hard to hold back right now, but terribly clever as I mentioned earlier.
One thing I have to mention that bugged me was in the writing itself. There were a lot of odd contractions such as, "There're shots in the air," throughout the novel. The worst part is, I've been known to write like this, but suffice it to say, I will stop because it gets annoying and it's not smooth reading.
In the end, it's not The Watchmen at all, but a clever story that makes you think. The themes in A Once Crowded Sky are a bit lighter, but no less interesting, especially to a comic fan. I would love to read a comic with all these superheroes in it and maybe that will happen one day because I think King did a great job thinking these ones up from powers to personality they're excellently crafted.
4 out of 5 Stars (highly recommended)
If you love or have ever loved reading comics, you need to read this book. It is essentially a love letter to comic book fans. This is a world in which the characters are slightly self-aware. They don't really know they're in a story, but it does still have some of the same vibes of [b:Redshirts|13055592|Redshirts|John Scalzi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348617890s/13055592.jpg|18130445]. The characters know that they always come back after death and they know they monologue and then save the world. But they don't necessarily know they're in a book or comic.
I love that this book is essentially the written version of a trade paperback. Each chapter is broken into sections with titles like Ultimate Man #454. And you can see how if this were drawn it would be a trade of something like a Marvel summer event.
While many of the characters seem to have analogues to our world - like a Captain America, Superman, Batman, and Superboy - they don't feel like derivatives or parodies. They seem like fully fleshed characters. It just makes sense that there would always be a Captain America-like hero. Even Watchmen has a demented version in The Comedian.
The main premise of the book is to explore what it means to be a hero and why we want such unrealistic heroism (to an almost black and white level) in our comics.
The book also reminds me of Bill Murray's line in Groundhog's Day when he claims that maybe God only knows everything because he's seen it before.
I've literally read hundreds of books in my lifetime and so I consider it a mark of a very good writer when he keeps me surprised and on my toes. Tom King did that many times over and it didn't seem cheap like M Night Shamalyn. There was only one plot twist I saw a mile away - The only parts that felt a bit contrived were when characters ignored other characters who clearly wanted to give them info and then that person dies or something happens. I know it's a key part of story-telling so that stories aren't just a few pages long - but I've never liked it even when my original author heroes like Michael Crichton used it.
The front cover makes a comparison to Alan Moore's Watchmen. The biggest one I see is in the ending. In Watchmen both Ozymandius and Dr Manhattan were willing to kill to allow the greater purpose to win. But it's all undone by Rorshach's journal.
I can't reiterate enough how much you should read this book if you love comics. And, just like the comics, it invites rereading once you know the plot twists because there were little details that you could have picked up along the way.
Spoiler
(a tragic fact considering how the book progressesI love that this book is essentially the written version of a trade paperback. Each chapter is broken into sections with titles like Ultimate Man #454. And you can see how if this were drawn it would be a trade of something like a Marvel summer event.
While many of the characters seem to have analogues to our world - like a Captain America, Superman, Batman, and Superboy - they don't feel like derivatives or parodies. They seem like fully fleshed characters. It just makes sense that there would always be a Captain America-like hero. Even Watchmen has a demented version in The Comedian.
The main premise of the book is to explore what it means to be a hero and why we want such unrealistic heroism (to an almost black and white level) in our comics.
Spoiler
PenUltimate is considered a coward for not showing up when all the super heroes gave up their powers. And, in fact, had he done it, the narrative would have been complete and everyone would have been reborn.The book also reminds me of Bill Murray's line in Groundhog's Day when he claims that maybe God only knows everything because he's seen it before.
Spoiler
In the biggest plot point I didn't see coming - the source of Prophetier's power (and the reason he still has it) being that he somewhat created the world of super heroes was quite an amazing plot point. But not as crazy a plot twist as the fact that he set things in motion by giving Ultimate the Superman comicI've literally read hundreds of books in my lifetime and so I consider it a mark of a very good writer when he keeps me surprised and on my toes. Tom King did that many times over and it didn't seem cheap like M Night Shamalyn. There was only one plot twist I saw a mile away -
Spoiler
that the evil Ultimate heart from the cat was in ultimate when he came back. It's the ultimate Chekov's gun because otherwise why would King keep returning to a stupid catThe front cover makes a comparison to Alan Moore's Watchmen. The biggest one I see is in the ending. In Watchmen both Ozymandius and Dr Manhattan were willing to kill to allow the greater purpose to win. But it's all undone by Rorshach's journal.
Spoiler
Soldier is willing to kill a good kid to keep the narrative from repeating, but it's heavily implied that it was for naught. Not only does Anna have Ultimate's heart and is pregnant, but PenUltimate started his own comic at #1 after spending the whole book in Ultimate's comic. Anna also starts at #1. And the final panel implies that her daughter has super powers. Also Prophetier's shortsightedness somewhat mirrors Rorshach's although the comparison is pretty thinI can't reiterate enough how much you should read this book if you love comics. And, just like the comics, it invites rereading once you know the plot twists because there were little details that you could have picked up along the way.
I am going to start by saying that I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The author knows the genre of comic book based superheroes really well, and clearly loves it. And I am glad I read it.
I'll start with what I liked.
The book was structured and presented wonderfully for comic hero prose. Each chapter is broken into segments, and each segment comes from a perspective of one of the characters. Each segment is identified by a title & number of a comic book that would correspond to the character of the segment, including annuals and one-shots. It was nicely done and a great feature of the narrative. In addition some elements of the book were done in comic panels, and others had hand written pages that represents a 'script' describing comic panels. As well as fitting a purpose within the story, it was interesting and effective for those familiar with reading comics.
Now for what I didn't like.
First, the author's deep familiarity with the genre tied the narrative up. The entire story of the book is buried in comic tropes, at a level where the characters identify and reference the tropes directly. So rather than a story bringing super heroes into the real world... it just makes comic heroes real. And I found it jarring. I believe I could have taken it in small doses, but it was the central plot element and referenced continually.
Second, was that while the story is told from differing character's perspective, the narrative tone of the story never changes. It came off as a single narrator's tone for each character. There were snatches of clear identity and perspective that stood out, particularly late, but the general tone and voice didn't vary as each segment did, which left the characters with less depth.
Third, there is a key plot element ((I'll try to limit the spoiler reference here)) based on eyesight and shooting ability of a hero who is now old and without abilities. It is setup repeatedly about his in ability to hit a target and being old frequently. Then in the late middle of the book suddenly he hits accurately without comment more than once. Then in the climax, his inability to hit a target is again incredibly important. It just didn't hang together well enough. As inconsistent as it's source material, I guess. But that really bugs me about comics and ultimately one of the reasons why I stopped reading series.
Anyway, in short, it is a fun read and worth it. But I was hoping for more.
I'll start with what I liked.
The book was structured and presented wonderfully for comic hero prose. Each chapter is broken into segments, and each segment comes from a perspective of one of the characters. Each segment is identified by a title & number of a comic book that would correspond to the character of the segment, including annuals and one-shots. It was nicely done and a great feature of the narrative. In addition some elements of the book were done in comic panels, and others had hand written pages that represents a 'script' describing comic panels. As well as fitting a purpose within the story, it was interesting and effective for those familiar with reading comics.
Now for what I didn't like.
First, the author's deep familiarity with the genre tied the narrative up. The entire story of the book is buried in comic tropes, at a level where the characters identify and reference the tropes directly. So rather than a story bringing super heroes into the real world... it just makes comic heroes real. And I found it jarring. I believe I could have taken it in small doses, but it was the central plot element and referenced continually.
Second, was that while the story is told from differing character's perspective, the narrative tone of the story never changes. It came off as a single narrator's tone for each character. There were snatches of clear identity and perspective that stood out, particularly late, but the general tone and voice didn't vary as each segment did, which left the characters with less depth.
Third, there is a key plot element ((I'll try to limit the spoiler reference here)) based on eyesight and shooting ability of a hero who is now old and without abilities. It is setup repeatedly about his in ability to hit a target and being old frequently. Then in the late middle of the book suddenly he hits accurately without comment more than once. Then in the climax, his inability to hit a target is again incredibly important. It just didn't hang together well enough. As inconsistent as it's source material, I guess. But that really bugs me about comics and ultimately one of the reasons why I stopped reading series.
Anyway, in short, it is a fun read and worth it. But I was hoping for more.
slow-paced
This book had so much potential. The plot was good, the ideas behind the story I felt were solid and even 'original' (yes there's nothing new under the sun but I felt this was unique). The problem I had that makes my rating of this so low was the execution of the great ideas and the good charaters.
If I took out all the repetition in this book it would probably be a third shorter, a whole star better, and easier and more enjoyable to read. Once you've read a conversation that consists of the characters repeating the same thing nearly 10 times, you get tired, you loose your invesment, and any immesion you may have had in the story is broken. Repetion is ok, a very usuful tool but it is far too abused here.
Second is the occassions where we get a sort of stream of thought from the characters. Again a useful thing to use to help us get into the mind of the character, but here is was just poorly exectued and far too inchoerent to actually make any impact.
The thing I found worse was the pointless scenes with characters that could have been interesting but had little to no character development besides, 'I'm the greatest', 'I drink, am drunk'... and so on. Just another lost opportunity to help us get a feel for this world and these people.
Lastly (at least the last big thing) is the pretentious sections. There were just some preachy moments where i think the writer just wanted to write was he felt that had no real connection with the story and just padded out the action that the read was really wanting to experience.
All in all I would say this is worth reading but don't expect something great, which is sad because it could have been great. If you want something similar but, i feel, better executed the read Ex-Heros. It doesn't have as an original/unique plot but it has similar elements and is just better written.
If I took out all the repetition in this book it would probably be a third shorter, a whole star better, and easier and more enjoyable to read. Once you've read a conversation that consists of the characters repeating the same thing nearly 10 times, you get tired, you loose your invesment, and any immesion you may have had in the story is broken. Repetion is ok, a very usuful tool but it is far too abused here.
Second is the occassions where we get a sort of stream of thought from the characters. Again a useful thing to use to help us get into the mind of the character, but here is was just poorly exectued and far too inchoerent to actually make any impact.
The thing I found worse was the pointless scenes with characters that could have been interesting but had little to no character development besides, 'I'm the greatest', 'I drink, am drunk'... and so on. Just another lost opportunity to help us get a feel for this world and these people.
Lastly (at least the last big thing) is the pretentious sections. There were just some preachy moments where i think the writer just wanted to write was he felt that had no real connection with the story and just padded out the action that the read was really wanting to experience.
All in all I would say this is worth reading but don't expect something great, which is sad because it could have been great. If you want something similar but, i feel, better executed the read Ex-Heros. It doesn't have as an original/unique plot but it has similar elements and is just better written.
Much richer and deeper than I expected. Worth a read for anyone who has ever thought seriously about comics, or has looked for lessons in unexpected places.
Disappointing execution of an interesting premise. Mostly, this just didn't go down the way I thought it was going to. And that wasn't necessarily a bad thing--there were definitely some parts of this I did enjoy--but it wasn't enough to redeem the book overall. Especially not with such poor treatment of every character that is not a white dude. I mean really. Subvert the genre you're paying homage to, at least!
That said, there was some really gorgeous artwork interwoven with the text that I absolutely loved. But that was really one of the only redeeming qualities of the book.
Skip this one and read an actual comic book instead.
That said, there was some really gorgeous artwork interwoven with the text that I absolutely loved. But that was really one of the only redeeming qualities of the book.
Skip this one and read an actual comic book instead.
As a novelist, Tom King is a pretty good comic book writer.
I'm going to hazard a guess that a lot of people who bought this book probably got steered towards Tom King either by his excellent Vision miniseries or his current work on Batman and Mister Miracle. For those who haven't bought this book, I would suggest you stop reading this and immediately go pick up Sheriff of Babylon if you're craving another Tom King fix.
This is a damn comic book script. It's effectively Tom King's attempt at writing The Watchmen. It's a meta-rich discussion of super heroes in a world where they've a lost their powers. It's not an attempt to make them more grounded and realistic. And only in a limited way is it attempting to deconstruct them. It's a discussion of what happens when all but one of them lose their ability to do what defined them.
It shouldn't have surprised me, but King has a stellar ability to make the reader understand complex physical motions. He makes choreography more tolerable than almost any author I read. But that still doesn't make me okay with it, because action and sex choreography are a blight on the world of novels. At times I read passages of this book and thought about how well it set up a two page spread for a comic book. Hell, chunks of some chapters are literally presented as comic book script.
But this is a novel, and I feel like if you're not willing to exploit what's powerful about a particular medium and avoid what its weak about it, you should move that story over to a space more accommodating.
The problem is, this premise is a lot more well-worn in the comic book realm than in novels. Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Mark Waid, Gail Simone, and many, many others have presented stories like this. And I think King noticed this, because most of his actual super hero work is a lot more ambitious.
Is this an unfair take on a book that actually features some often beautiful prose? Oh my yes. I read this book after devouring his run on The Vision, Batman, Mister Miracle, and Sheriff of Babylon, so I'm knee-deep in work that probably reflects lessons learned from writing this book. But it's hard not to think about it.
Tom King is brilliant at visual storytelling. Which is why he should probably stick to visual mediums.
I'm going to hazard a guess that a lot of people who bought this book probably got steered towards Tom King either by his excellent Vision miniseries or his current work on Batman and Mister Miracle. For those who haven't bought this book, I would suggest you stop reading this and immediately go pick up Sheriff of Babylon if you're craving another Tom King fix.
This is a damn comic book script. It's effectively Tom King's attempt at writing The Watchmen. It's a meta-rich discussion of super heroes in a world where they've a lost their powers. It's not an attempt to make them more grounded and realistic. And only in a limited way is it attempting to deconstruct them. It's a discussion of what happens when all but one of them lose their ability to do what defined them.
It shouldn't have surprised me, but King has a stellar ability to make the reader understand complex physical motions. He makes choreography more tolerable than almost any author I read. But that still doesn't make me okay with it, because action and sex choreography are a blight on the world of novels. At times I read passages of this book and thought about how well it set up a two page spread for a comic book. Hell, chunks of some chapters are literally presented as comic book script.
But this is a novel, and I feel like if you're not willing to exploit what's powerful about a particular medium and avoid what its weak about it, you should move that story over to a space more accommodating.
The problem is, this premise is a lot more well-worn in the comic book realm than in novels. Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Mark Waid, Gail Simone, and many, many others have presented stories like this. And I think King noticed this, because most of his actual super hero work is a lot more ambitious.
Is this an unfair take on a book that actually features some often beautiful prose? Oh my yes. I read this book after devouring his run on The Vision, Batman, Mister Miracle, and Sheriff of Babylon, so I'm knee-deep in work that probably reflects lessons learned from writing this book. But it's hard not to think about it.
Tom King is brilliant at visual storytelling. Which is why he should probably stick to visual mediums.